(Minghui.org) Ms. Zhao Yueqin, a Falun Gong practitioner from Tianjin, has been subjected to three court trials since the end of 2015. The first trial lasted only about 30 minutes and was hastily concluded due to major flaws in the prosecutor's evidence. The second trial was adjourned in less than 10 minutes for lack of evidence. Ms. Zhao was put on trial for the third time on September 7, 2016. The trial was adjourned in less than 10 minutes, again for lack of evidence.
Ordeal Begins
Ms. Zhao was arrested at her rental home by twelve plainclothes officers from the Tianjin City Domestic Security Division, the Tanggu Police Department, the Hangzhoudao Police Station, and the SWAT Team on March 2, 2015. The officers ransacked her home without showing any identification or search warrant. They confiscated Falun Gong books, a notebook computer, two cell phones, jewelry, bank books, cash, and keys, among other things.
Ms. Zhao was taken to the Tanggu Drug Rehabilitation Center. She was later transferred to the Tanggu No. 1 Detention Center. She developed symptoms of illness in detention. Her blood pressure was as high as 240 mmHg. She was released on bail pending trial on March 5, 2015.
Under pressure from the local police, Ms. Zhao's landlord forced her to move out of her rental home. She and her husband had to temporarily stay with their son.
Five officers from the Tanggu Police Department and the Xiangyang Police Station broke into their son's home on April 30, 2015. They searched each room and threatened to arrest Ms. Zhao again if she continued to practice Falun Gong. The officers told Ms. Zhao that she was under constant surveillance, and if she were to be arrested again, she could receive a heavier sentence. She has since lived under the surveillance of the Xiangyang Police Station.
The Tanggu District Court put Ms. Zhao on trial on December 7, 2015. The evidence presented by the prosecutor was not related to her case, and the trial ended in about 30 minutes.
Ms. Zhao was tried again on May 11, 2016. The trial was adjourned within 10 minutes for lack of evidence. On September 7, 2016, she was put on trial for the third time. The trial was once again adjourned in less than 10 minutes for lack of evidence.
On October 27, 2016, the court notified Ms. Zhao that her bail had expired, and that she needed to file an extension.
Large Scale Arrests
On March 2, 2015, just before the annual meetings of the People's National Congress and the People's Political Consultative Conference, officers from the Tianjin City 610 Office and the Domestic Security Division, directed by Zhao Fei, chief of the Tianjin Police Department, launched a campaign to arrest a large number of practitioners including Ms. Zhao.
Incomplete statistics from the Minghui website indicates that 37 practitioners and their family members were arrested or harassed between March 2 and March 4, 2015 across eight districts in Tianjin.
According to sources from within the public security system, at least 60 practitioners were arrested. Twenty of these practitioners were detained and later officially placed under arrest, and several have been sentenced to prison.
